FairPoint Communications is assuring telephone and Internet customers that the company has plans in place to deal with the strike by more than 1,700 workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.Tap here for videoCompany spokeswoman Angelynne Amores Beaudry also said Friday that the company remains willing to listen to any union proposal that "meaningfully addresses the core issues of these negotiations."Tap here for photos of the picketingThe company declared an impasse in negotiations in late August.The company-imposed contract has frozen worker pensions and requires them to contribute to their health care costs for the first time.The strike, authorized months ago, began early Friday after union officials met with company officials in Boston."The majority of our workers have been around for years and years. We have t-shirts that say AT&T, Nynex, Bell Atlantic, Verizon, FairPoint. We've been through all the changes. Not one of those companies has ever treated us with the disrespect and disdain that this company has. They are shameful. They are shameful with what they're doing to 2,000 working families," said union leader Jenn Nappi.Peter McLaughlin from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers says the unions have offered "significant concessions," but the company isn't interested.The North Carolina-based FairPoint bought Verizon's land holdings in northern New England for $2.3 billion in 2007 and filed for bankruptcy 18 months later.FairPoint emerged from bankruptcy in 2011 but has still struggled to become profitable.

PORTLAND, Maine —

FairPoint Communications is assuring telephone and Internet customers that the company has plans in place to deal with the strike by more than 1,700 workers in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont.

The company-imposed contract has frozen worker pensions and requires them to contribute to their health care costs for the first time.

The strike, authorized months ago, began early Friday after union officials met with company officials in Boston.

"The majority of our workers have been around for years and years. We have t-shirts that say AT&T, Nynex, Bell Atlantic, Verizon, FairPoint. We've been through all the changes. Not one of those companies has ever treated us with the disrespect and disdain that this company has. They are shameful. They are shameful with what they're doing to 2,000 working families," said union leader Jenn Nappi.

Peter McLaughlin from the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers says the unions have offered "significant concessions," but the company isn't interested.

The North Carolina-based FairPoint bought Verizon's land holdings in northern New England for $2.3 billion in 2007 and filed for bankruptcy 18 months later.

FairPoint emerged from bankruptcy in 2011 but has still struggled to become profitable.